1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a swing hinge device of a portable terminal. More particularly, the present invention relates to a swing hinge device of a portable terminal adapted to semi-automatically rotate a pair of housings of the terminal while they face each other to open and close them.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a “portable communication apparatus” refers to an apparatus that a user can carry with him to perform wireless communication with a desired partner. Portable communication apparatuses include HHPs, CT-2 cellular phones, digital phones, PCS phones, and PDAs, and may be classified into various categories according to their appearance. For example, portable terminals may be classified into bar-type portable terminals, flip-type portable terminals, and folder-type portable terminals according to the appearance of the particular apparatus. The bar-type portable terminals have a single housing shaped like a bar. The flip-type portable terminals have a flip or a cover that is rotatably coupled to a bar-shaped housing by a hinge device. The folder-type portable terminals have a folder that is connected to a single bar-shaped housing by a hinge device in such a manner that the folder can be rotated to fold on or unfold from the housing.
Conventional portable terminals, as enumerated above, are necessarily equipped with an antenna device, a data input and output device, and a data transmission and reception device. The data input device is usually made up of a keypad that is used to input data through finger pressing operation, and a touch pad or touch screen may also be used.
In addition, an LCD is generally used for the display function of the data output device.
Flip-type or folder-type terminals have now prevailed because they have excellent sound receptivity and are beneficial to making the body in a compact size with reduced weight.
In order to meet the diversified tastes of consumers, sliding-type and swing-type terminals have recently appeared that implement opening and closing operation while a pair of housings face each other. Furthermore, terminals have been developed that implement the opening and closing operation of folder-type terminals in combination with that of swing-type terminals.
However, practical means to implement the opening and closing operation of conventional portable terminals has not been provided. In particular, swing-type terminals that implement opening and closing operation by rotating a pair of housings while they face each other have a problem in that, in order to open the terminals for speech, the user must manually rotate one housing to a speech position.
In addition, when one housing is continually rotated in one direction, an FPCB positioned between the pair of housings may be damaged.